What does Genesis 7:8 mean?
Verses 8 and 9 describe pairs of animals, insects, and birds entering the ark. Previous verses revealed that additional clean animals were included, for a total of seven pairs (Genesis 7:2). Some of these would be sacrificed after the flood as an offering to God. God's intent in the flood is to destroy the entire human race (Genesis 6:17), in judgment of their outrageous sin (Genesis 6:11–12). Preserving the animals is God's way of maintaining those creatures after the flood (Genesis 7:3).Earlier verses indicated these animals were sent to the ark by God (Genesis 6:20). Noah was not scrambling around trying to catch unwilling creatures. At the same time, from the moment God tells Noah to board the ark, to the point these preparations are complete, a full week has passed. And not a moment too soon, since the flood occurs on the very same day they finally enter the ark (Genesis 7:13).